WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today that two lease sales planned for March and August 2011 for the central Gulf will be delayed so the department can conduct environmental impact studies related to "lessons learned" from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

The Associated PressInterior Secretary Ken Salazar

Salazar said he hopes those studies will be completed in time for the sales to be conducted in late 2011.

Salazar also confirmed that the department is putting off limits new oil and gas develop off the Florida coast, as well as the Eastern Atlantic. He said that the reason for the change in administration policy relates to the experience with the BP spill disaster.

The administration had announced plans to move forward with Florida and East Atlantic drilling in October, one month before the explosion at the BP Macondo well.

"As a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill we learned a number of lessons, most importantly that we need to proceed with caution and focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime," Salazar said. "As that regime continues to be developed and implemented, we have revised our initial March leasing strategy to focus and expend our critical resources on areas with leases that are currently active. Our revised strategy lays out a careful, responsible path for meeting our nation's energy needs while protecting our oceans and coastal communities."

Criticism from the oil and gas industry was immediate.

"If there were any questions as to whether or not this Administration is more interested in picking winners and losers in the energy market and waging an unbridled war on America's oil and natural gas producers than creating jobs and putting our nation on a path toward energy security, they were put to rest with today's misguided announcement that will keep even more taxpayer-owned energy resources further out of reach and under Washington's lock-and-key," said Bruce Vincent, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Environmentalists said Salazar is acting responsibly.

"Today, anyone who loves our beaches, who fishes in the ocean or who depends on a healthy coastal economy can thank the Obama administration for protecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the west coast of Florida from oil drilling," said Environment America Executive Director Margie Alt . . "The BP disaster earlier this year was a tragic reminder that drilling is a dirty and dangerous business."